Firstly thanks to everyone for coming out to the shows! We’re stoked on the response to our “Americana Noir” style pioneered on our 2012 albums – and we love to play it live.
Secondly we’re working on Plan 13 with a return to Europe and a limited edition 7″ called “Stay The Course” with a nautical theme. After that North America & beyond. 2013 is gonna rock.
BjB in Berlin
Now about 2012. Some people came and some went. Sadly we lost our producer Todd Simko (rip) less than a week after we finished recording the final song for Battered Bones. We miss him every day. While we were waiting for JT to get his health back we were lucky enough to have our friends Tim & Bill sit in and drum with us for a few tours. We tried out touring as a quartet but went back to a trio after the USA leg. The next day (following our first ever show in Newfoundland which is awesome!) we got rated one of the top 3 bands to ever play HPX (Halifax Pop Explosion).
In Spring we released Headless Fowl and Jello Biafra himself dropped us a line saying he thought the record was intensely cool. To add some sparks to the fire we shot the Amerkin video with Hora Morior where Director Chris Ray proved himself astonishing. We also toured with Murder By Death; the best part is the friendships that remained after the dates were done. In summer we played with Slim Cessna – a great experience because a good friend of mine -Big Bad Bob- plays keys and slide with Slim. BBB also mixed and mastered both of our 2012 albums and brought us into his signature Denver sound.
In Fall we released Battered Bones on Rookie Records, an album Brandy & I have been working on for two years. To accompany that release Chris and Hora Morior took one of Brandy’s ideas and we filmed Taste the Barrel out in the desert for two days, forging more lasting friendships. Then Brandy, JT & I hit 8 countries in three months, did 60 shows & sold tons of records. Plus we got to see old friends in Europe that we haven’t busted shit up with in two years. Onward ho!
Cheers,
Big John Bates
